A Beautiful End to the Season!

Observers plying the waters around the Mingan Islands had a great day in the company of marine wildlife. The day gets off to a good start: “First one splash, then another… It’s a tuna! That’s a first for us! No doubt about it, we saw its body clear as day. It lept high out of the water several times. It was energetic and fast; it seemed to be foraging. Park employees told us they had seen schools of mackerel in recent days… Perhaps that was what the tuna was after…” they exclaim.  During their visit to an island, their focus shifts to seabirds. On the way back, they come across some harbour seals before they begin to spot cetaceans. They get excited again: “In the same area where we saw the tuna, we encountered four porpoises that circled back toward us and surfaced right next to the boat. We could see them through the clear water, moving quickly alongside the craft. They, too, seemed to be on the prowl.”

From Cap Forillon, one observer was able to admire humpback whales in Gaspé Bay. “There were at least two or three more humpbacks far offshore,” she reports. On the way back, I came across the same two individuals in the bay, one of which performed three breaches!” These acrobatics are part of the species’ typical behavioural repertoire. Although this display managed to wow the gallery, the reason for this behaviour remains a bit of an enigma. Play… seduction… communication… there are a number of hypotheses that attempt to explain these impressive feats. It is also possible that whales adopt this behaviour to rid themselves of the parasites covering their skin or to improve their diving capability. For the time being, scientists are still in search of a clear and unanimous answer.

Grey seals have also been present in the area. One local resident actually saw one eat three large striped bass right in front of her eyes! From Franquelin, two minke whales have also been reported coming to feed near the coast from time to time.